Corso woke after a few hours of rest and gazed at Miriah, who hadn't moved. Her hand was still firmly in his, though, and that counted for something, he thought. He could hardly believe she was here, and he could touch her. All those nights when he thought she was with him and he'd wake to nothing but darkness faded in his memory, and he sighed with the relief of her beside him. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms and hold her close, but Maura had cautioned him against it, telling him he could hurt her unintentionally. The thought of hurting his love ran a cold shiver down his spine. He could be content with just looking at her, he figured. He looked at the display above her head, and out of the corner of his eye, he thought she moved her arm. He continued to watch, to see if it would happen again, but nothing. He finally closed his eyes again, smiling.
Magdalane and Devin sat at the ranch house kitchen table, discussing the next steps. "I feel like there's something we're waiting for," Devin said. "Not just Mom waking up, but like we need to protect Lana, too."
Mags nodded. "I've felt it as well. I think Lana's still well known in what's left of the Empire. I sure hope there's not any Zakuul hunting her." They both grew thoughtful at that, knowing what had happened on other planets when both the Republic and Empire's armies had fought them. "We might take the Dreamweaver out of the hangar and put her ship in there, at least out of sight."
"I'll get Logan to help with that," Devin said. They picked up trays of food, and along with the house droid, took them over to the office, where the family remained gathered. Aric still slept, but when Maura saw them, she gently moved her husband's arms and met them, the others starting to wake.
"I went down about an hour ago, and replaced the fluids. They're so sweet together," she said, referring to Corso and Miriah. "I thought I saw her twitch, but then I didn't see it again, so I'm not sure."
"I'm hesitant to try and force scan her again so soon, especially since I saw how easily she got overwhelmed yesterday. I would say we need to dim the lighting in there, since the most common reaction to carbonite freezing is blindness." Maura hummed her agreement and they sat to eat.
Aric had been listening, but kept his eyes closed. Man, I hope Spitfire is awake soon, he thought. His body was still recovering from the combat they'd seen on Ryloth, and he rolled on his back, stretching sore muscles. I never thought we'd be in direct combat again, he mused, but it felt good. Maybe we all need to start training, getting ready. This Valkorian maniac isn't going away anytime soon. His feline nose twitched with the smell of breakfast, and he eased himself up from the sleeping bag. Mir better be on the mend soon, he thought. I'm too old for sleeping on the ground.
Devin brought food down for his dad, and was pleased to see that he was rested. His mom still looked the same. He sat with Corso as he ate. "Dad, I brought something for Mom," he said, pulling a pair of padded socks out of his pocket, Miriah's favorites. "I thought maybe if we brought in things she liked, or things that might make her remember home, then she'd be back sooner." Corso looked at his son with thoughtful eyes.
"It's worth a try," he said. "I thought I saw her move early this morning, but didn't see it again." He finished his food and stood to put the socks on his wife's tiny feet. When he did, he felt her toes move against his hand. He stood still for a momen, then looked at Devin's surprised face. "Go get your aunts," he told Devin, who sprinted up the stairs, too excited to wait on the elevator. Lana came in from the bunker area, and Corso told her what had happened. Lana immediately went to dim the lights in the room, explaining the blindness side effect to Corso. When the sisters swept into the room, it was a dim, warm area illuminated by Corso's broad smile. Maura proceeded to check Miriah's reflexes, noting that she was responding weakly but as she should to all the taps and touches. When Maura put pressure on her sister's sternum, they all heard a weak but distinct groan from Miriah's lips.
"Her reflexes are intact, and she's responding to painful stimuli. That's something, at least," Maura said softly.
"She's coming back!" Corso said, hugging Maura. "I knew she would!"
Aric watched the celebration, and smiled. This was what the whole mission was about, he mused. He walked over to where Corso was hugging his wife and hugged them both. "Great news!"
"So do we do anything to help?" Devin asked.
"We need to move her muscles, very gently," Maura said. "And talking to her might help, but just at a low level and we have to watch that she doesn't do what she did yesterday with everyone in here."
"I'll work with her," Lana said. "I've done this many times with injured soldiers." Corso thanked her, making her smile. She'd enjoyed being a part of the family the evening before, and when she went outside to grab breakfast, Devin told her of the plan to move her ship. She agreed it was a good idea, and thanked Devin for his foresight. She saw Logan at the far end of the table, his gaze distrustful. "I have a feeling that your brother isn't happy that I'm still here."
Devin sighed, and tried to explain. "He was a sniper in the Republic army, before all the madness. His unit was dissolved, and I think now he's just relying on his training where you're concerned." Lana sat with her hands in her lap, feeling slightly dejected. Now that she'd gotten Miriah to safety, she wasn't sure what her path was. Devin felt her uncertainty. "My grandmother has a meditation room," he told her. "I'm sure that she would let you try to find your way."
"I'm grateful that I have a place to stay and great food, wonderful people. I'd hate to put anyone out further," she said.
"I'll let her know you might need it, and you can use it when you're ready," he said. Lana agreed, and went to get ready for the day.
There were signs as the day progressed that Miriah was struggling to the surface of her induced hibernation. By late afternoon, the whole family was encouraged by her movement, however slight. Corso hadn't left her side for more than a couple of minutes, but he did call to Aric as the sun began to set. "Hey man, tell everyone that they need to rest at home. I'm sure Mir wouldn't like to know that they're all on the ground out there."
"Thanks the stars," Aric said. "I don't know how the kids sleep on that rocky hillside. I'll tell them, but no guarantees. You know they all just want to be supportive."
"Yeah, I get it. I'm not sleeping anywhere else, but I hope they get some rest. I have a funny feeling that we're not done fighting yet."
"Exactly what I was thinking this morning," Aric answered. "I even started putting together a tactical analysis upstairs in case we get visitors." Corso nodded, he knew his friend would be thinking ahead. "I'll send it to you later. You have your datapad, right?" Corso told him that he did.
Aric walked to Miriah's side. "Hey Spitfire, you need to get through this, I need your blaster." Corso smiled. Aric touched her hand, and she tried to grasp his fingers. The motion startled him and he jumped. "Cor, she tried to touch back!"
Corso laughed. "Yeah, man, she's been doing that this afternoon. I'm hoping to see her eyes soon." He took Miriah's hand, and laughed when she threaded her fingers with his. "See? She's getting closer." When Aric left, Corso sat beside his wife, relaxed and happy.
Corso sat without moving for several hours, and when he did stand, he realized it was evening. He walked to the stairs but didn't go up, he hated to leave Miriah alone for even a few minutes. He shrugged, and walked around the medbay for a minute. He happened to be on the other side of the room when he heard a faint sound, and rushed to Miriah's side. She parted her healing lips and another sound emerged, one that sounded like pain. "I'm here, love, right here. Miriah, can you hear me?" he cried. When she again fell silent, he worried. She sounded uncomfortable, he thought, and while that is certainly understandable, how can I make it better, he wondered. He stood thinking for a minute, then snapped his fingers. He made his way to the supply closet and pulled several pillows, a blanket and a few towels out.
He approached the hard bed and studied it, then pulled his supplies close. He carefully turned his prone wife on her side and supported her back with couple of pillows, adjusting her shoulder and arm gently. He put a pillow under one knee, and replaced the one under her head with one freshly plumped. He tucked the blanket over her shoulder, and rolled the towel to support her arm. When he'd finished, he was quite proud that she looked more comfortable. Maura came in, a plate of food in her hands for Corso, and had to grin.
"What brought this on?" she asked, observing that the brain wave monitor was calm.
"She made sounds," he said. "She seemed to be uncomfortable so I started looking at how hard and flat this thing is," he explained, poking the medbay exam bed with his finger. "So I fixed it."
Maura laughed. "You did, she seems more settled. I have to say that I'm surprised she's progressing this well. Here, you need to eat, Cor." She handed him the food and took his place beside Miriah. "Her color looks better. I'm guessing you're staying here again tonight?" He nodded. "I'm trying to get Colin to go home, but he feels better here, he says. Calleigh will be here tomorrow, and wants to examine Mir, since she had zero experience with carbonite." Maura picked up and rearranged supplies, checked the infusion and waited for Corso to eat, knowing that if she left, he'd resume his position beside Miriah and not get any break at all. Finally, she sat.
"Wow, that was really good ronto," he said. "I'm guessing Felix cooked tonight. His ronto stew is always good." Corso stood and stretched his lean frame, and walked around the small room. It felt good to move around, and he took advantage of Maura's presence to shower, as he'd done the night before. Sarai had been in and out all day, but Devin had told him that she was sleeping at the ranch house tonight. Calypso had been in just a little bit earlier and gave her mother a gentle kiss goodnight.
When Corso was again ready to try and rest, everyone left him. They'd been told that they should go back and sleep in real beds, but they insisted that they were happier in their makeshift camp. He carefully checked Miriah for any pressure points, as Maura had showed him, and lay back in his own hard bed. He'd only just drifted off when something woke him. He felt Miriah's hand in his own, and looked around to see what had caught his attention. He heard her then, her soft cry telling him she was in pain. He looked all around, shifted pillows, even turned her on her other side, but she continued to cry out, though the sounds were getting softer as she weakened. He didn't want to wake Maura up, but the spikes on the monitor were getting sharper and Miriah's heart rate was speeding up. Finally, out of other solutions, he gently picked Miriah up and draped her across him, her head on his shoulder. When he looked back at the monitor, her heart rate had started to settle. She feels so good, so right, he thought. He lay his head back and started to sing softly, one of the songs he'd heard as a child and that he'd used with the boys. When he looked back at the monitor, he saw that Miriah was sleeping and drifted off himself, his arms and his heart both full.